Thread: Thai Workers To Enter U.S. Through New Immigration Program

Thai Workers To Enter U.S. Through New Immigration Program For Farmhands

July 4, 2008 12:01 a.m. EST
Vittorio Hernandez - AHN News Writer

Denver, CO (AHN) - A federal visa program avoided by farm owners for its high cost and bureaucratic procedures is now being used to bring in foreign farmhands.

By next harvest season, farm owners in Colorado will have an alternative to the H-2A visas after Gov. Bill Ritter signed a law that created a program to guide farmers through the application procedure and cut document processing time. Similar laws are being considered by other states.

Farm owners have turned to the H-2A visas to bring in seasonal farm workers, mostly from Mexico, after Congress failed to pass reform immigration legislation in 2007.

Up to $600 per worker is being shelled out by farm managers to get seasonal workers in the country legally as immigration laws make it more difficult to hire illegal foreign workers. Local workers are not biting at the $9.42 an hour job offer to harvest produce in farms across the U.S.

The United Farm Workers Union will play a major role by matching foreign farm workers with American farmers. This would save the foreign farmhands money paid to labor contractors. The UFW signed agreements with the governments of Mexico and Thailand to implement the program. The first batch of Thai workers are slated to arrive in a few weeks to be deployed to vegetable farms on the East Coast.

Erik Nicholson, UFW international director, told the Associated Press, "Agriculture is a global industry, so we're building an international infrastructure to advocate for these global workers... Workers need to know about their rights on both sides of the border."
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http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011500003

By next harvest season, farm owners in Colorado will have an alternative to the H-2A visas after Gov. Bill Ritter signed a law that created a program to guide farmers through the application procedure and cut document processing time. Similar laws are being considered by other states.

I'm a little confused. I thought the federal government had full control over all immigration into the United States. How can Colorado create an alternative plan without full cooperation from the federal government?

Originally Posted by MW

By next harvest season, farm owners in Colorado will have an alternative to the H-2A visas after Gov. Bill Ritter signed a law that created a program to guide farmers through the application procedure and cut document processing time. Similar laws are being considered by other states.

I'm a little confused. I thought the federal government had full control over all immigration into the United States. How can Colorado create an alternative plan without full cooperation from the federal government?

Looks like Colorado can because the feds are doing nothing to stop them (just like they do nothing re: sanctuary cities). It would take a law suit, likely, from Judicial Watch or IRLI, ans some activist libidiot socialist judge would probably let it go on anyway.

Originally Posted by MW

By next harvest season, farm owners in Colorado will have an alternative to the H-2A visas after Gov. Bill Ritter signed a law that created a program to guide farmers through the application procedure and cut document processing time. Similar laws are being considered by other states.

I'm a little confused. I thought the federal government had full control over all immigration into the United States. How can Colorado create an alternative plan without full cooperation from the federal government?

I am too! This article says they aren't using the H-2A visa then they are?